MARKETING DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

O.Gryshchenko , post-graduate student An emerging trend in the realm of marketing has been the increased application of marketing decision support system (MDSS) technology to aid ith decision!making (DM). De"eloping a sound and robust marketing strategy has ne"er been an easy task. #he success or failure of a company$s marketing effort depends on the interaction of numerous internal and e%ternal factors, combined ith the kno ledge and intuition of the decision!makers themsel"es. Marketing DM re&uires a comprehensi"e analysis of en"ironments both inside and outside the firm. 't re&uires a ide range of strategic information, including hard and soft information, and it re&uires managers to deal ith issues that in"ol"e a high degree of uncertainty, sub(ecti"ity and ambiguity. Marketing also in"ol"es managers$ intuition, (udgment, and personal "ision. #hese characteristics of marketing decisions present a real challenge to decision!makers. )hile managers certainly possess specific strengths and ad"antages in handling such decisions, they are often nonetheless limited by their kno ledge and background, a lack of the analytical skills necessary to undertake systematic strategic analysis, and a lack of time to focus intensi"ely on strategic issues. Gi"en these barriers, along ith the gro ing comple%ity and competiti"eness of the marketing en"ironment, the need for tools to assist the marketing decision!maker could not be greater. #he concept of a MDSS addresses this need for DM support. #he earliest traces of the MDSS took shape in the *+,-s, as decision!makers started to de"elop rudimentary models from hich marketing decision could be made. .o adays MDSS help decision!makers utili/e data and models to sol"e unstructured problems based on management science, decision theory, systems science, beha"ioral science, computer science and information technology. 't is used to impro"e the &uality and timeliness of marketing decisions by impro"ing the effecti"eness of DM. 't focuses on supporting, rather than replacing, managerial (udgment, and ultimately, it is the harmony created bet een the strategic analysis of the system and the intuition of the manager that helps achie"es a synergy during the DM process. #he MDSS components include the user!system interface subsystem, the database management subsystem and the model base management subsystem. #hese three components ork together to gi"e the marketing manager the system necessary to aid ith DM. Marketing decision support systems can be de"eloped to support a ide range of DM issues and problems on a "ariety of le"els. 0ndoubtedly, the main thrust of MDSS is to support marketing DM in a strategic planning conte%t, hich includes product design and planning, research and de"elopment, large!scope forecasting, customer profile analysis, and so forth. #he MDSS can support marketing decisions on the tactical and operational le"els as ell. Decisions regarding basic pricing, perishable!asset re"enue management, budgeting, sales forecasting, and in"entory control tend to fall into this category. 1ertain MDSS can also help facilitate the en"ironmental scanning process, here data from the e%ternal en"ironment is filtered, tailored, and interpreted into customi/ed, meaningful information, and then used in con(unction ith managers$ e%perience and intuition to aid DM. #he MDSS can also automate ne s finding and assess the possible impact of that ne s on a firm$s strategy. 2ike any other system MDSS has its benefits and limitations. 3irst of all, MDSS is able to ferret out impartial data for analy/ing marketing problems. 't can help organi/ations cope ith information o"erflo by combining and homogeni/ing information sources and by increasing the speed and ease of data retrie"al. MDSS is also fle%ible and adapti"e o"er time, allo ing the

decision!maker to add, delete, combine, change or rearrange basic elements, pro"iding fast response to une%pected situations. )hile orking in con(unction ith the kno ledge and intuition of the marketing manager, an MDSS helps to create a po erful synergy for the decision!making process. )hile it is true that using an MDSS can pro"ide e%cellent decision support to marketing managers, it is &uite apparent that the full potential of MDSS has yet to be reached. Moreo"er most marketologists admit that the biggest and e%pensi"e shortcoming an MDSS can ha"e is that it is not used. #hough not ithout its limitations, the MDSS is a "aluable tool a"ailable to the marketing decision!maker. #he MDSS allo marketers to make ob(ecti"e and consistent decisions by supporting the fast solution of comple% and semi4unstructured problems. #hey allo decision! makers to combine their o n e%pertise and intuition ith complimentary application models to enhance the &uality of marketing decisions. 'n addition, the fact sho s that the field of MDSS is relati"ely young and e"ol"ing, MDSS are likely to play an increasingly important role in marketing DM in the years to come. A.M. Dyadechko, ELA